SLUG HERE CREDITS TO GO HERE… 14 HERITAGE TODAY www.english-heritage.org.uk www.english-heritage.org.uk THE GREAT TOWER L-R) John Cherry; Neil Stevenson; Steven Brindle; Leo Todeschini; Frances Sinclair and Paul Pattison Key to the success of this project has been the input of expert historians and craftspeople: ( PHOTOGRAPHY JUDE EDGINTON Made in England We have brought together academics and craftspeople, all experts in their field, to work on the re-presentation of the Great Tower at Dover Castle, which re-opens this August.This is your exclusive opportunity to meet them HERITAGE TODAY 15 INTRODUCTION BY EDWARD IMPEY, DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH & STANDARDS, ENGLISH HERITAGE B uilt by Henry II, one of the most powerful English kings of all time, to entertain the leaders of Christendom, the Great Tower at Dover Castle is the most spectacular building in one of Europe’s most spectacular castles. During the eight centuries of its existence it has been the scene of numerous events in the mainstream of English history. Its heyday, however, was undoubtedly in the decades after its creation in the late 12th century. But although it is superbly preserved and still gives an instant impression of the power and ambition of its builder, to understand how it might have functioned, looked and felt in that period requires a lot more knowledge and imagination. Hence the central aim of this project: to evoke the appearance and atmosphere of the interiors on the occasion of a major royal event in the late 12th century. In the past, English Heritage might have shied away from something which might risk misleading our visitors – either because we couldn’t precisely reproduce the building’s appearance in the period, or because we were claiming to. But today, while avoiding damage to historic fabric, we believe that what visitors will gain from a re-presentation of this sort, provided it is backed by compelling evidence, outweighs any such risks. Obtaining that evidence has required a major programme of research into why the Great Tower was created, how it was furnished, equipped and decorated, and who used it and worked in it. This has been led by our own experts, but we have called on the services of many other acknowledged specialists in the field. What we learnt, however, needed to be translated into actual items to furnish and decorate the rooms. This has required, first of all, a designer, for everything will be made new – not slavish copies of real items, but created in a convincingly 12th-century idiom. And then everything has had to be made – hence the long list of highly specialised craftsmen, including potters, blacksmiths, painters, weavers and a carpenter making the 21 doors to exact 12th-century specifications. The overall effect will, we believe, give our visitors a glimpse of an aspect of the past which will be wholly new and wholly different – a window onto the world of 12th-century life, power and politics in the building in which they were played out.
leo todeschini; Frances sinclair and paul pattison
Key to the success of this project has been the input of expert historians and craftspeople: (
photography Jude edginton
Made in Englandwe have brought together academics and craftspeople, all experts in their field, to work on the re-presentation of the great tower at Dover Castle, which re-opens this august. this is your exclusive opportunity to meet them
heritage today 15
introduction by edward impey, director of research & standards, english heritage
Built by Henry II, one of the most powerful English kings of all time, to entertain the leaders of Christendom, the Great Tower at Dover Castle is the most spectacular
building in one of Europe’s most spectacular castles. During the eight centuries of its existence it has been the scene of numerous events in the mainstream of English history. Its heyday, however, was undoubtedly in the decades after its creation in the late 12th century. But although it is superbly preserved and still gives an instant impression of the power and ambition of its builder, to understand how it might have functioned, looked and felt in that period requires a lot more knowledge and imagination.
Hence the central aim of this project: to evoke the appearance and atmosphere of the interiors on the occasion of a major royal event in the late 12th century. In the past, English Heritage might have shied away from something which might risk misleading our visitors – either because we couldn’t precisely reproduce the building’s appearance in the period, or because we were claiming to. But today, while avoiding damage to historic fabric, we believe that what visitors will gain from a re-presentation of this sort, provided it is backed by compelling evidence, outweighs any such risks.
Obtaining that evidence has required a major programme of research into why the Great Tower was created, how it was furnished, equipped and decorated, and who used it and worked in it. This has been led by our own experts, but we have called on the services of many other acknowledged specialists in the field.
What we learnt, however, needed to be translated into actual items to furnish and decorate the rooms. This has required, first of all, a designer, for everything will be made new – not slavish copies of real items, but created in a convincingly 12th-century idiom. And then everything has had to be made – hence the long list of highly specialised craftsmen, including potters, blacksmiths, painters, weavers and a carpenter making the 21 doors to exact 12th-century specifications.
The overall effect will, we believe, give our visitors a glimpse of an aspect of the past which will be wholly new and wholly different – a window onto the world of 12th-century life, power and politics in the building in which they were played out.
Senior properties historian, English Heritagesteven Brindle
this is the most ambitious and large-scale attempt to re-create a medieval palace that has been undertaken in more than a century. you can find a couple of 13th-century rooms at the tower of london, but this is on a completely different
scale. my role has been to see that everything in the great tower is exactly as it would have looked all those years ago.
we have undertaken a huge amount of research and have only relied on imagination in one or two small areas. for the oak furniture, we have used authentic joinery techniques. the replica textiles on the walls are made from the kind of yarn that would have been used back then, and the colours are entirely in keeping with the 12th century.
of all the great work that has gone into the great tower, if i had to single out anything in particular which will stop visitors in their tracks, it’s the throne with its huge backcloth. the throne is in blue and gold and stands about 1.5 metres (five feet) tall, while the gold-on-red backcloth is five metres (16 feet) high. topping the whole thing off is an amazing canopy. overall, the result is sensational.
Senior properties historian, English Heritagepaul pattison
the whole project goes back two years. that was when we began to consider whether it was really possible to do something like this. having decided that we could achieve it, it’s taken about 18 months to complete the job. one of
my roles has been to commission historians and experts who do not normally work for english heritage. these specialists have been absolutely brilliant; the quality of the research they have carried out has been amazing.
for me, the biggest revelation has been the beautiful cultural language of the period, the sheer magnificence of what the elite had around them in those days. we tend to think that medieval Britain was a drab place, when in fact it was a riot of colour. for example, they used to paint their oak tables and chairs in gorgeous colours. and their craftsmanship was as good as anything machine-made today.
i just hope that when people visit they will leave feeling surprised and fulfilled. really, we want to entertain people and teach them something subliminally.
Historian John cherry
the great tower
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -my role was very early on. in fact, my involvement took place even before it was decided to go ahead with the project at all. i was asked to write a report and then give a talk at a one-day seminar, outlining whether i thought it was possible to create
a 12th-century interior based on the material at our disposal. i ploughed through pages of documents and articles and came up with suggestions about what was possible and what would be down to imagination.
we must remember that there are no photographs or drawings from the period and, although people talk about tapestries and wall hangings, they don’t always get you very far. the most serious challenge was the lack of knowledge about the way rooms were arranged internally. Understanding the arms and armoury of the time was easier, however.
i made it clear that this would be a big challenge. But i was thrilled that english heritage decided to go ahead and i have been profoundly impressed by the quality of craftsmanship. i can’t wait to see the results. a recreation of this kind deserves to be critically appraised. it strikes me as a wonderful achievement.
as studio director, i have overseen the production of these enormous new embroideries (above). our expertise in hand-embroidery techniques and our experience of working with historical textiles has also contributed to the research.
crucial to our work has been advice from frances pritchard, an expert on 12th-century textiles, on the medieval technique of underside couching and stem and chain stitching.
technically, some of the challenges have been how to control such large cloths during stitching, maintaining the tension of the framed fabric, and having to work the embroidery in smaller sections, without being able to see the whole image on the frame. the stitches that we could use were limited, all worked in crewel wools and silk floss in a style that might have been used during the period. as dyes of the time would not have been consistent in the way modern dyes are, we had to vary the threads by mixing in different tones.
the biggest challenge for us has been to be deliberately imperfect with our stitches, something which goes against the grain for the rsn!
Above l-r: drawing in the details on the backcloth to the king’s throne; detail from neil stevenson’s workshop; cushion patterns for the guests’ chairs and king’s chair
Above (clockwise from top left) scenic artist meg surrey at work in her studio; embroidery begins on the king’s standard; blacksmith dave salt, working with neil stevenson’s team, nailing ironwork to one of the many chests; embroidery in progress below the colourful, even shocking, appearance of 12th-century furniture is seen in this design for the king’s chair of state
Lead designer and scenic artist Kit and meg surrey husband and wife Kit and meg surrey don’t normally work as a team, but they came together at dover castle in such a way that, at times, their home in exeter began to resemble a late 12th-century studio. Kit is the lead designer on the great tower project and meg is the artist responsible for the painted elements of all the wall hangings – more than 100 metres worth. it was not the first time they had worked together, however. they were both hired to re-create the theatre royal in Bury st edmunds, a project that gained plaudits far and wide.
‘the great tower is a theatrical experience, but without all the bad connotations,’ says Kit. ‘everything had to be designed, rather than reproducing antiques.’ and the biggest challenge? the furniture, because there are so few examples of 12th-century items left. ‘we had to rely on manuscripts and paintings and i was so impressed by the research,’ he adds. ‘the backup we had from english heritage was amazing.’
meg helped with the masterplan, but then she had to tender for the painting job. ‘i trained as a scenic artist for film and theatre and have a knack for picking up painting styles of the past,’ she says. ‘But this was a task of an entirely different kind. the scale is massive.’ so massive that meg sub-contracted out some of the painting, which in itself leant authenticity
to the project because the original artwork would have been done by different people.
each of the rooms has been divided into two parts, known as the upper and lower registers. meg has concentrated on the King’s chamber, where her paintings on the lower register have been digitally printed. meg is particularly pleased with her paintings of three english saints: edmund, edward the confessor and thomas Becket. ‘it’s been a fantastic experience,’ she says. ‘i started off knowing nothing about the period. i used to think it was all a bit primitive, but in fact it was rich and ornate. the research was so enjoyable, except that we kept finding more and more paintings in books. at a certain point, we had to stop and get down to work. i am really thrilled with the results.’ a
the greatest challenge was interpreting the ‘feel’ and quality of early medieval furniture, having few current examples in existence and practically no written records to guide us.
we developed concept designs and recreated a range of
more than 60 authentic furniture items, including the king’s bed and chair, chests, armoires, lecterns, tables and benches, all to be positioned in complete room settings in the great tower. replicating the techniques of the 12th-century furniture maker would be a step too far in the timescale, so basic machining was used for the timber conversion. all the joints are as authentic as possible, with wedged and dowelled tenons being used widely. to achieve the feel of an adzed finish, we used specially shaped plane blades and hand-planed every face.
we are fortunate that during our 25 years of craftsmanship we have built up a great network of skilled sub-contractors.
it’s evident that the craftsmen of the period took great pride in their work. we needed to reflect the high standards demanded by the royal court, without looking either too new, or too much of a pastiche.
i’m an historic craftsman, making items by hand just as they would have been produced in previous centuries. some pieces have been quite straightforward as the historians could be very exact, for other pieces where there is little evidence we have
had to work together closely to develop items. i have supplied a wide range of military items as well as specialist objects for the kitchens and King’s chamber. i have worked with english heritage before, as well as hampton court, the royal armouries and the tower of london and love making these unusual objects. the real challenges, though, were in making the king’s possessions. this is because the king had to stand out from the common man; every item has to have more detail, more expense. the king must look like a king in every respect.
opposite the wall of Kit and meg’s studio with early (and now superseded) plans of the roomsAbove (clockwise from top left) graphic appliqués at the royal society of needlework; at wyvern forge, two of neil stevenson’s team of blacksmiths; wooden carvings in a romanesque style by neil stevenson’s team; crewel work and silk floss threads; neil stevenson’s workshop
the greAt toWer openS on 1 AuguSt 2009. A new exhibition which supports the re-presentation also opens in Arthur’s hall.dover cAStle, kent. open now until 31 Jul, daily, 10am-6pm; 1-31 Aug, daily, 9.30am-6pm; 1-30 Sep, daily, 10am-6pm; 1 oct-1 nov, daily, 10am-5pm; 2 nov-31 Jan 2010, thu-Mon, 10am-4pm; 1 feb-31 Mar 2010, daily, 10am-4pm; closed 24-26 dec & 1 Jan
If you would like this document in a different format, please contact our Customer Services department: Telephone: 0870 333 1181 Fax: 01793 414926 Textphone: 01793 414878 E-mail: [email protected]
